Satan Starts from the Touch of Ithuriel's Spear
1776
- Medium
- pen and brown ink and brush and gray wash
- Dimensions
- 30.9 × 42.5 cm
- Status
- In Museum Collection
- Collect24 Art ID
- C24-192230
Henry Fuseli's lifelong interest in the work of the English poet John Milton (1608-1674) inspired many drawings that interpreted passages from Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost (1667). This early example illustrates the moment when the angels Ithuriel and Zephon discover Satan disguised as a toad in the bower where Adam and Eve are sleeping. Ithuriel forces Satan to reveal himself by prodding him with a spear. The lion in the background alludes to an earlier passage in the poem, when Satan takes on the shape of the beast in order to spy on the couple.
Provenance
Allen Fund, 1954.365
Registry history
- 1776 — Recorded in the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art — drawings
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